Even in today’s anti-establishment culture, people warm to authority. Human beings make sense in life by referencing the other people/things we encounter. As a result, we need frames of reference. An authority offers a stable frame of reference.
When those around Jesus, heard in his teaching an authority like no other, they were recognizing that the basis of Jesus’ authority was different to how authority usually functions in the world. Jesus was not imposing something from without. He was calling forth something that the very depths of the being of his audience could not deny was true.
Not even the most rebellious of spirits could deny it!